Guano from gigantic goose gaggle costs Finnish farmer 60K euros

Millions were enchanted by the sight of hundreds of thousands of barnacle geese descending on a field in Elimäki, southern Finland last weekend. But the field's grain-farming owner now faces 60,000 euros in losses caused by massive amounts of guano air-dropped by the gigantic gaggle.

An unusually large number of barnacle geese ruined 68 hectares of crops with a sizable amount of droppings in Elimäki, Southern Finland, resulting in one local farmer's financial losses of some 60,000 euros - writes yle.fi.

Increasingly, huge flocks of barnacle geese (Branta leucopsis) – widely considered pests – stop to rest in southern Finnish fields during their migration south. The birds cannot land in fields where the standing crops have not been gathered, and neither do they eat the harvest; instead the geese prefer to touch down in flat areas where crops have already been threshed.

It is during the flocks' flight that the problem arises.

Lasse Hannola, the farmer who grows wheat and oats in the field, says the geese defecate as they fly above the fields.

"Wherever the geese went, harvests were lost. We had high hopes for this year's yield. Those crops can't even be used as animal feed."

The enormous gaggle has temporarily settled in an area nearby, adjacent to fields owned by a number of other local farmers.

Adding insult to injury

The most recent guano fallout only adds insult to injury, growers say, as the wet summer had already caused heavy flooding in some parts of the region.

Threshing machines cannot be used in flooded fields and persistent heavy rains mean that pumping the water out will not necessarily help. The geese do not need to leave the submerged area even to roost for the night -- they gather in water to protect themselves from predators.

"The areas that weren't already soaked were spoiled by the geese," Hannola says. "At least the EU farming subsidies will make up for part of my losses."

Hannola says he does not want to evict the feathered troublemakers using pest-control methods.

"I don't think it would do much good at this point. I'll leave the ruined crops, droppings and all, as the mulch will serve as fertiliser for next year."

The coach of a sports club in Hyvinkää, southern Finland has been remanded into police custody on suspicion of sexual abuse of minors he was coaching, the Itä-Uusimaa police department said on Thursday. Officials said that they are investigating the case as suspected child abuse but did not disclose the ages of the alleged victims. The suspect in the case, a 50-year-old man, was remanded into custody on Wednesday. The suspected sexual abuse is believed to...

Finns increasingly forego do-it-yourself construction of prefab elements in favour of completely completed homes. Turnkey homes (where homes are fully finished and owners can immediately occupy them) have become more popular than traditional house packages, says the Finnish Association for Manufacturers of Prefabricated Houses. “About 7,500 detached homes are built in Finland every year, and about 70 percent of them are prefabricated houses of some kind,”...

THE FESTIVE ATMOSPHERE in the Helsinki neighbourhood of Arabianranta was visibly subdued on Tuesday, as residents mourned the death of a local child who is believed to have been murdered. While little information has been released to the public, it is known that the victim was murdered near their home on the night of Christmas Eve (December 24). The police apprehended a suspect at the scene of the crime, who has been confirmed as a 36-year old male. Whethe...

One of Finland’s most famous seafaring vessels, the titanic icebreaker Otso, was deployed on its first mission of the winter season last night, keeping sea routes open for the 22nd year in a row. Late in the evening of Christmas Day, Otso, the crowning glory of Arctia Oy’s extensive fleet, departed from Helsinki’s Katajanokka Harbour, heading north to the Bay of Bothnia. The 7000-ton Polar icebreaker has been tasked with keeping waterways open between Oulu...

Eight Finnish political parties have published their a statement on future climate policy goals in Finland. Prime Minister Juha Sipilä (Centre) in November invited all nine parliamentary parties to join a task force established to find an agreement on new, more ambitious climate goals for Finland. The one-month project was led by Kimmo Tiilikainen (Centre), the Minister of the Environment, Energy and Housing. The Finns Party abandoned the task force last w...

A 25-year-old man suspected of the sexual abuse of a girl under the age of 15 in Oulu, northwestern Finland, who was arrested in Germany last Tuesday is now reported to be at large. According to law enforcement officials in Oulu, the suspect was released by German police before he could be transferred to Finnish custody due to "a breakdown in communication between authorities". Oulu District Court ordered the suspect to be reprimanded into custody in absen...

Finland’s high earners saw their real income grow more in 2017 than their peers in middle and low income groups, according to new data released by Statistics Finland on Tuesday. Incomes among the country’s highest income decile rose by 4.4 percent in 2017 compared to 2016, while the year-on-year increase was 1.3 percent for middle income earners. Incomes for the four lowest income deciles meanwhile grew by 1.2 percent over the one-year period. However amon...

A man wanted in connection with a suspected arson attempt on a home in Helsinki’s Käpylä district was remanded into police custody on Sunday. The Helsinki district court has remanded a man suspected of attempted arson and attempted murder into police custody, ending a short-lived manhunt, police said on Sunday. The 25 year-old is suspected of using a Molotov cocktail to cause a fire at a flat in Käpylä, Helsinki last Monday. The apartment was completely de...

Helsinki Central Library Oodi will opened its doors to the public on 5 December at 8am, a day before Finland’s 101st birthday. Designed by ALA Architects, this library of a new era is an ode to Finnish culture, equality and freedom of expression. Oodi offers everyone an open, public urban space at Kansalaistori Square, right opposite Parliament House. Central Library Oodi is an active and functional meeting point with 2.5 million expected annual visitors....